On May 11th, the Chicago Connectory hosted the first ever Connexion IoT event at the Chicago Connectory and 1871. More than 500 people from Bosch and other global companies attended to learn about IoT topics from 18 high-profile thought leaders, joined two featured meetups, experienced an IoT startup pitch contest, and visited an exhibition space where more than 40 interactive sponsors showcased their IoT solutions, including Microsoft, CDW and more!

Local influencers, progressive civic leaders, industry executives, innovative companies and cutting-edge startups gathered to network and discussed topics like the future of consumer IoT, the impact of IoT on healthcare, transportation and smart cities.

“As the Connectory just had its one-year anniversary, the goal of this event was to bring forth its essence and provide inspiration and education about IoT and all of the opportunities it provides for the greater ecosystem of Chicago,” said Michael Blumenthal, corporate outreach coordinator at the Chicago Connectory. “This event is also about enabling connections and creating synergies between people who want to change the world through IoT.”

Kyle Joseph, lead connector at the Chicago Connectory and creator of Connexion IoT, agreed.

“This is the culmination of so much hard work by an incredible team,” said Joseph. “We are proud to show off the amazing IoT work being done by Bosch and our partners, and to continue to bring recognition to the Chicago Connectory as the heartbeat and backbone of the IoT ecosystem in Chicago and the Midwest.”

Peter Von Wartenberg, head of Bosch’s Charleston plant, attended several of the thought leadership speeches. He said he learned a lot about global competition in the future with differences in privacy laws and how they relate to IoT.

In fact, all attendees learned something new, including people from other companies.

“I think it’s really informative and has hit on a lot of the key areas that IoT is addressing right now and the excitement of what it can be,” said Sue Bova, manager of business development at U.S. Cellular. “The Connectory space itself is indicative of where we are at and where we want to get to in terms of IoT.”

We will be posting in depth overviews of each speaker session shortly. For more information in the meantime, please visit the Connexion IoT page.